Deprived
by Gasian Gaond
Summary: Death would soon be an unavoidable fate, and for Triela, there was only room for bitter complacency. ClaesxTriela


A/N: This fic was created out of a short brainstorming and was actually finished some time ago, but I kinda forgot posting it. Since my friend reminded me to do it, I decided to post this up now. Tomorrow I'll go back to editing my K-on fic.

Enjoy!

Summary: Death would soon be an unavoidable fate, and for Triela, there was only room for bitter complacency. ClaesxTriela

* * *

Deprived

"To be honest, Triela, why did you save Bice...?"

Triela looked up at Claes, confused and hurt at the same time.

"To be honest, I don't want to talk about that again," she said to the painting girl, "And what do you mean? She was the one who saved me."

Claes continued to color the sky in with the delicate movements of her brush. "But from what I heard, if you hadn't saved her, you would have died together..."

"And your point is...?" Triela said, a bit irritated, "Do you mean I saved her to save myself and just let her die...?"

"I was just wondering..." Claes said, applying a blue color wash to the canvas, "...if you can have feelings for anyone other than your handler."

Triela didn't see where Claes was coming from.

"I was wondering if that human part of us had been entirely gone or not..."

A pause. "Bice, too..." Claes said, "...I never thought she would go that far and throw away that missile without instructions from her handler...since she was..."

"...Enough..." Triela broke in, "Enough, Claes, what do you want to say...?"

Claes was silent for a while.

"You will die soon..." Claes said, "And the time you can spend with me...is running out."

Claes's gaze wondered toward the window. "I just want to..."

"...Chill out," Triela broke in.

She couldn't stand the topic any longer.

"...Huh?"

For a while Triela gave Claes a blank stare. She didn't quite understand why Claes suddenly brought this up. All she could comprehend was that despite her calm and evasive demeanor, Claes still needed someone to be with. And somehow, that person seemed to be Triela.

"Why so serious, Claes? You really need to have some fun," she said in a cheery tone.

A cyborg's life was compartmentalized into doing her job for The Agency, and spending the rest of her free time with the things they are fond of. Triela knew what Claes would answer her.

"I have fun. I read, I paint, and I..."

"Not those, outdoor fun! You need to do something outside other than gardening! And since I have nothing better to do today, let's have fun!"

Claes raised an eyebrow.

"And what'll that b..."

Triela grinned. "C'mon! Let's pick up the ball and play outside!"

Claes blinked a few times. "Ball...? Whoa, Triela!" And she was submissively pulled out of her room by her friend.

* * *

"What is that...?" Claes said, her eyes narrowed.

"This...? This is a ball. Haven't you ever seen a ball?" Triela said, juggling it with one hand.

"Of course I have! I mean, why do you need so many of those? ?" she cried, pointing toward the balls with various sizes and shapes that Triela had collected from God-knows-where.

"We're gonna play them...cyborg-style..."

Claes sighed. She didn't want to compete in any more of Triela's silly games.

"Oh please... I've had enough of anything cyborg-style..."

"Huh, why?"

"Because the last time you wrestled me in our room 'cyborg-style' you almost killed me! ! And THEN I almost killed you for nearly breaking my glasses! Not to mention you just jumped on me from behind without warning!"

"Hey... you're still mad over that old thing...?" Triela said casually as she came at her with the ball.

Knowing Triela's power, Claes knew even a simple ball could compare with a deadly weapon in her hands. Claes carefully take a step back.

"I'm not gonna play it with..."

Then she saw something yellow zoomed past her, missing her nose by a few inches. She turned to where it came from but found the culprit was no longer there.

"Then I'm going to force you..." came Triela's voice from behind.

Claes ducked just in time to evade Triela's enormously powerful throw. The ball missed its target and crashed at the nearby tree, sending it down to its doom.

'That tree is done for...' Claes thought wearily.

"Hey, you! Don't hurt the trees!" she yelled, although she knew it was useless. Triela enjoyed this tremendously because she knew damaging plants with her destructive powers would annoy the hell out of Claes, and she made sure her intention was known from her excited grin plastered on her face. And she had to admit, Claes's irritated face was kind of...cute.

"Stop grinning you're making me..." Claes finally took her first step away from her initial position – a very long step... "...sick!"

Triela saw a blur of black shiny threads before a mighty blow hit her stomach and sent her flying at least ten feet away. From her corner of her eye she saw Claes picking up a ball from the ground. She knew Claes would hurl it faster than her feet touching the ground, she positioned her arms to protect her face.

But Claes was cunning.

Triela was too focused to her she didn't notice what awaited her behind her head...

"HYAAAA!"

...which was a large rose bush that kindly welcomed her arrival with sharp, pointy thorns.

"Serves you right for messing with plants..." Claes said coldly, dribbling the ball in satisfaction.

It took a second or two before Triela could free herself and cleaned the bloody mess and thorns that decorated her whole body. After a short moment she realized Claes was watching her. Triela shrank in shame.

"I don't know plants can be so strong. I've never had this many wounds since I fought..."

"You're exaggerating... That's okay, I know you're sorry," Claes told her as she approached her and pulled a small twig from her hair.

Triela turned her head and realized she had created a damage that she could hardly compensate. "...About that tree..."

"It's not a special tree anyway..." Claes broke in once again, "I'm sorry, too...let's go back...I'll treat your wounds..."

"There's no need...there's nothing serious..."

Claes didn't approve of her decision.

"I insist. Look at your face," she said, clasping Triela's face in her hands.

When Claes's smooth palm rubbed her face Triela could feel some deep cuts on her cheeks.

It made her wonder how much longer she could feel something.

How much longer she could eat and live...

How much longer she could feel the touch of Claes's hands on her face...

The comparatively short time that was left for her in this world was slowly ticking away like a time bomb that would eventually explode.

And what would happen after she died?

There were other people in the agency, such as Petra, who could keep Claes company after she was gone.

But why did she bear a compassionate feeling for Claes, only for Claes, about how she would become after Triela could no longer be around...?

And why, if this was not simply her imagination, did she see a glint of regret in Claes's eyes...?

She raised her hand and touched Claes's fingers which were still on her cheeks. The silence was awkward, but somehow, neither of them spoke. Triela herself didn't know what really crossed her mind. But she leaned closer, and planted a small kiss on the other girl's forehead.

Just as Triela thought there was nothing more surprising than her sudden action, Claes didn't pull back and surprised her even more. She only blinked several times and stared at her in silence. For some reason it invited a smile on Triela's face.

There was nothing much she could do to prolong her age. Whatever would happen in the future, she had to make do with whatever left. Struggling was useless...and both of them understood it more than anyone else.

She opened her mouth to finally speak.

"...I won't live long..." Triela said, "But you're one of the good reasons to try..."

The bespectacled girl didn't give even a single word of reply.

However, when she held Triela's hand while hanging her head shyly as they walked back to their dormitory, Triela knew, that it was her way to express her thanks.

end


End file.
